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"Okay, you have to tell me what's going on," Tracey said. "You've been acting weird since the challenge started. What is it?"
"It's nothing," Daphne said as she looked at the entrance through which Harry had entered the maze ten minutes ago. Moody had come to see him there which had gotten Daphne all nervous. She looked at the faculty stand and saw that the defense professor wasn't there. "Did you see where Professor Moody went?" she asked Tracey.
"I saw him going towards the castle," Tracey said. "Why? Is something wrong?" Daphne remained quiet for a minute before she stood up and headed for the faculty stand. "Da…Daphne? Where are you going?" Tracey asked before she followed her friend.
Draco was watching them from his spot and he knew Daphne was up to something which he didn't feel comfortable with. However, he decided to just observe her for the time being.
McGonagall was sitting in her spot when to her surprise, Daphne came over to her. "Ms Greengrass is everything alright?" she asked wondering why the Slytherin had come to her.
"Can we talk professor?" Daphne said.
"What is it?" McGonagall realized it must be something important because of Daphne's serious tone.
"Not here," Daphne said. "Somewhere more private?"
The deputy headmistress nodded before she left the faculty stand with Daphne. Tracey saw them go towards the black lake as she wondered why Daphne was with McGonagall.
"Okay, what is it?" McGonagall asked.
"Before I tell you, can you cast a privacy ward around us?" Daphne said. "Yours is more powerful than mine so no one will be able to hear us."
McGonagall looked at her for a moment before she complied with the request. "Alright, what is it?" she said once she had erected the ward around them.
Tracey watched them from the distance and saw McGonagall's strict demeanor change into one of shock which made her wonder what was going on. It was then that Neville arrived.
"What's going on?" he asked. "I saw you and Daphne leave all of a sudden."
"That's what I am trying to find out," Tracey said pointing to Daphne and McGonagall in the distance.
Neville was confused. "What is she telling McGonagall?" he asked.
"I don't know," Tracey said. "Ever since Harry walked into the maze she has been looking all worried. I think something is going on. I know Daphne. She doesn't get worried so easily unless it is something serious."
"They are leaving," Neville said as they saw Daphne and McGonagall leave for the castle but not before the Gryffindor faculty head sent a ball of light towards the Quidditch ground.
"Looks like a patronus message," Tracey said. "Who do you think it is for?"
"I don't know," Neville said.
"Let's go after them," Tracey said. "I'm starting to get worried as well."
"It looks like they are going to use the front entrance of the castle," Neville said. "Let's take the back one. We'll go in before them. I can then go to our dorm and get Harry's invisibility cloak so McGonagall and Daphne won't see us."
Tracey grinned. "I like the way you think, Longbottom," she said. Neville blushed before smiling. The two then left for the castle's rear entrance.
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"Severus! There you are!" McGonagall said sounding relieved while Snape just looked at Daphne.
"Ms Greengrass, what are you doing here?" asked the potions' master.
"Professor, we need to hurry," Daphne responded without answering Snape's question.
McGonagall nodded looking at Snape. "I have also informed Albus and he's on his way. If what Ms Greengrass says is correct then…"
"I highly doubt that," Snape said still looking at Daphne.
"I am telling the truth," Daphne said. She sounded resolute and she was feeling a little angry at her house head for not showing his trust in her. However, unlike before she didn't feel scared of him. "Barty Crouch Junior is impersonating Professor Moody."
"And how do you know that?" Snape asked.
"Professor, please! We don't have time!" Daphne said. "I will answer all of your questions but first we need to hurry. Harry and others are in danger. Barty wants to use Harry to bring back Voldemort!"
Snape wasn't expecting that as the surprise was evidently visible on his face. He looked from Daphne to McGonagall who nodded, letting him know that she believed Daphne.
"He was the one who put Harry's name in the goblet," Daphne continued. "Please, we need to hurry, professor!"
"Fine," Snape said begrudgingly, "but you stay here."
"No, I'm coming too," Daphne said.
"This is not up for debate Ms Green…"
"I'll take whatever punishment you give me, professor," she said interrupting Snape, "but please let me come with you."
McGonagall sighed when she saw Snape wasn't willing to say anything and just looked angrily at Daphne. She looked at Daphne and her tenacity reminded McGonagall of Hermione and even Lily for some reason. She didn't need to connect the dots to know that Daphne and Harry were friends and probably something more. She didn't know how to feel about it but she decided not to think on it too much as they had more pressing matter to attend to at the moment.
"You can come if you want, Ms Greengrass," she said, "but you will stay behind me at all times and at the first sign of any danger you will leave or else I will personally see to your week-long suspension in the next term."
Daphne nodded before she had her wand out, gripping it tightly as the three headed towards Moody's office.
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Neville met Tracey outside the great hall. "Where did they go?" he asked.
"Towards Moody's office," she said. "Did you get it?" Neville nodded as he took out Harry's cloak from his pocket and unfurled it. "Alright, cast some silencing charms on ourselves so they won't hear us."
Neville nodded. Once they were done with all the preparations they headed towards Moody's office.
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Daphne, McGonagall and Snape arrived outside Moody's office before McGonagall pulled Daphne behind her. She then looked at Snape before giving him a nod. The potions' professor nodded back before blowing the door off of its hinges. Without waiting he walked in as Daphne and McGonagall heard clattering and crashing of furniture before things quieted down inside the office.
Once the dust had settled McGonagall walked in while she instructed Daphne to stay outside. Snape had subdued Moody in the chair, binding him with magically conjured ropes which were almost an inch thick. The man wasn't going anywhere.
Daphne looked right at the trunk that was in the corner of the office. McGonagall followed her gaze when Dumbledore arrived. Daphne simply stepped to the side knowing she couldn't do much in the situation anyway.
Dumbledore glanced at her for a second before entering the office and went straight to Snape who was looking at the many opened boxes which had empty glass vials in them. He picked one up and took a small whiff, immediately recognizing the smell of what it used to contain.
"Polyjuice," he said looking at Dumbledore when the sound of many locks clicking open grabbed everyone's attention and they saw the trunk in the corner open from McGonagall's spell. They all looked inside. The trunk was magically extended on the inside and they could see an unconscious Moody lying in there without his prosthetic leg or the mechanical eye.
"You think it's him?" McGonagall asked looking at Dumbledore when they were distracted by the groaning sound coming from the Moody that Snape had tied to the chair. They all saw with surprised looks as the man's facial muscles started to move while his body began to lose weight. A minute later he has completely changed back to his original form and everyone was shocked to see that it was Barty Crouch Junior.
Dumbledore stepped in front of the man, looking him straight in the eyes. However, the death eater completely ignored the old wizard an instead kept looking at Daphne as he grinned.
"You really are smart, Greengrass" he said as everyone looked at Daphne. "I underestimated you..."
She felt a little scared and not to mention intimidated. However, Harry's safety was her paramount concern at the moment. "How do you plan on bringing Voldemort back using Harry?"
Her words stunned everyone, including Dumbledore who looked from her to Barty who kept grinning. "Well, aren't you the curious one," said the death eater.
"Ms Greengrass, what are you saying?" Dumbledore asked.
"He is the one who put Harry's name in the goblet," Daphne said. "He wants Harry to win the tournament because it has got something to do with his plan of bringing back Voldemort."
Everyone in the room looked at her in awe and shock. They didn't know what was more shocking – the fact that Daphne knew Barty was impersonating Moody or that she could say Voldemort's name without an ounce of fear or hesitation.
"How do you know that, Ms Greengrass?" Dumbledore asked.
"I figured it out," Daphne said. She didn't want to tell them that it was Draco who had told her and Harry about Barty's plan. She still didn't know whether the death eater could put Draco's family in danger but it was safe to assume that he could.
"Maybe we should ask the important questions," Dumbledore said before turning to look at Barty. "How does Harry sit in your plan, Barty? Tell me," he said calmly but everyone could feel the air inside the office become dense. McGonagall and Snape knew it was Dumbledore's way of intimidating others which in this case was the death eater.
"You will have to kill me, Dumbledore," Barty said grinning. "It's done. I put a trace on that boy and he is already where we need him to be."
"Isn't the cup charmed to bring the winner outside the maze and back in the arena?" McGonagall asked.
"He probably changed the charm to take Harry wherever he was needed," Dumbledore said before he leaned closer to Barty. "Where is he? Where is Harry?"
"Not telling you," Barty said in a sing-song manner before cackling like a madman.
Dumbledore sighed, rubbing his forehead before he looked at Snape and whispered something to him. The Slytherin head looked at him for a moment before nodding his head and then left the office. He returned a few minutes later with a small vial in his hand which he then gave to Dumbledore.
"Do you know what this is?" Dumbledore said showing Barty the vial. "Veritaserum. One drop and anyone will say the truth. But you already know that, don't you, Barty?"
Suddenly Snape cast a spell and Barty opened his mouth screaming. Everyone was shocked as Dumbledore poured the entire content of the truth serum into Barty's mouth before forcing the death eater to swallow it. Daphne was shocked to see the headmaster act like that. It wasn't what she had assumed Dumbledore to be like. He always appeared calm and collected. However, this Dumbledore was completely desperate. Even McGonagall seemed surprised.
"Now, who are you?" Dumbledore asked his first question to ensure that the serum was working.
"Bartemius Crouch Junior," Barty said.
"Why do you need Harry to bring back Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked.
"We want to use the boy's blood," Barty said. "It is charmed with magic that protects him from the dark lord's physical touch. We will use his blood in a ritual to remove that weakness of the dark lord."
Dumbledore was definitely surprise by that. He didn't know that Voldemort had figured out Lily's protection charm. "Where is Harry right now?" Dumbledore asked after a moment's pause.
"He is in the graveyard of Little Hangleton," Barty said.
The look on Dumbledore's face said it all that he knew where that place was as McGonagall asked him the same and he nodded. "Little Hangleton is where Voldemort's paternal family lived," he said slowly.
"You can't go there," Barty said
"Is…he resisting the veritaserum?" Daphne asked.
"It's not surprising," Dumbledore said. During the influence of the truth serum one couldn't say anything unless they had been asked to. However, that didn't seem to be the case with Barty which could only mean one out of two things – either he had already ingested the anti-dote for the truth serum or he had built up a tolerance. "Some people can build up a tolerance to the potion by consuming small amounts of it over long periods of time."
"How is that even possible?" Daphne said. Veritaserum was one of the most potent potions ever. It was impossible to dilute and was very volatile. The moment it was ingested it went straight after the person's mind, numbing it down completely and only keeping that part of the brain active which was used to speak the truth. The sheer ability of the potion to have its affect in such a short amount of time was enough to ensure that no one could counter or build a tolerance for it. However, it seemed to be possible now that she was looking at Barty.
"Even if you know of the place you cannot go there, even with the help of your pet," Barty said looking at Dumbledore. "We have been preparing for this moment for years now. Once the dark lord is revived he will kill Harry Potter, proving the prophecy wrong and the world will once again see his reign and this time no one will be able to stop him!"
Dumbledore kept looking at him before he knocked-out the death eater. He then looked at McGonagall. "Inform the aurors," he said. "Tell them that they have a criminal on the loose."
McGonagall could only nod as Dumbledore left the office. Daphne watched him go in utter surprise before she went ahead and blocked his path. "What are you going to do about Harry?" she asked looking at the headmaster.
"I will try to go to the graveyard with Fawks," Dumbledore said.
"But he said it wouldn't work," Daphne said.
"We don't know whether he is lying," Dumbledore said. "He showed resistance towards the truth serum."
"If you are going then I am coming with you," Daphne said.
"I am sorry but I cannot endanger you Ms Greengrass," Dumbledore said. "You are to stay here and that is final."
Before Daphne could argue, Dumbledore walked away. She watched him go as she stood there trembling. She felt completely helpless and scared for Harry as her eyes became wet. She didn't know what to do.
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Harry groaned as he woke up when he realized he was stuck to the statue of the grim reaper. He struggled to free himself but he couldn't when his eyes fell on Fleur, Cedric and Viktor lying a few feet from him – dead.
After seeing them fall on the ground, dead from each other's killing curse Harry had ran towards Fleur, Viktor and Cedric but before he could reach them a spell had hit him and he lost consciousness. When he woke up he found himself stuck to the statue of the grim reaper. He tried to reach for his wand but realized it wasn't there.
He couldn't believe this was happening. He didn't know what to do when suddenly he saw there was someone else in the graveyard. He looked to his right and saw a man wearing a body-length cloak walking towards a large cauldron. He had something in his hands which resembled like a doll and when Harry looked closely he recognized the thing from his nightmares. It was what killed him every time before Harry would wake up all drenched in sweat with his heart racing.
The man stopped by the cauldron as the fire underneath it came alive, vigorously boiling the concoction. The man then dropped the doll-like thing into the cauldron before turning around and walking up to a grave which Harry saw was Tom Riddle's. He knew that name very well. The cloaked man obliterated the grave, revealing the skeletal remains inside it. He then floated out a bone from it as he spoke in a ritualistic manner.
"Bone of the father, unwillingly given," the man said as he then dropped the bone into the cauldron. He then took out a knife as he continued speaking. "Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed." Much to Harry's shock the man cut his right hand from elbow down as it fell into the cauldron. He then turned towards Harry who then saw the face of this man.
It was Peter Pettigrew.
Harry gritted his teeth as his anger began to rise with each step Peter took towards him. The rat smiled as Harry struggled to free himself from the statue's grip. However, his struggle went in vain. Peter took the knife and cut Harry's sleeve before he continued his ritualistic spell. "And blood of the enemy, forcibly taken."
Harry winced as he felt the knife slice a cut in his arm before he saw Peter take the now bloodied knife over to the cauldron as he dropped the few drops of that blood into the potion which made it turn red in an instant. The concoction began to boil vigorously as Peter stepped back, a smile coming on his face as he spread his hands and shouted, "And the dark lord shall rise again!"
Harry felt a searing pain erupt from the cut in his arm before travelling all the way up to his scar on the forehead. He screamed his guts out. It was the most pain he had ever felt as his limbs began to thrash around and he began to sweat profusely. The pain came to a stop after about a minute leaving Harry barely conscious. He looked up to where Peter was. His vision was blurry and his head was pounding. However, he didn't miss someone coming out of the cauldron before he was covered with black smoke which then turned into a cloak. As he removed his hood Harry saw a skull-like, boney head with snake-like eyes and no nose. He immediately remembered seeing something similar back in his first year. It was when Voldemort had appeared on the back of Quirrell's head.
Harry's breath hitched as he realized who was standing in front of him. It was Voldemort. Barty's plan had worked. Voldemort had been revived. It was then that Harry felt something moving inside his forehead. However, the feeling stopped soon and Harry forgot about it as he saw Voldemort walk up to Peter. The rat bowed to the dark wizard while whimpering in fear.
"My wand, Wormtail," Voldemort said extending his hand towards Peter who slowly reached for his pocket before pulling out a wand. He then gave it to Voldemort who looked at it like it was his long-lost child. He caressed the wood's length before pointing the wand towards the sky and casting a non-verbal spell. Harry saw as dark clouds gathered above the graveyard before taking the form of a skull which had a snake coming out of its mouth.
It was the dark mark, the same mark that had been cast during the Quidditch world cup finale.
As Harry saw the snake come out of the cloudy skull's mouth it dispersed into various smoke-like trails which then descended around Voldemort each revealing them to be a death eater. They were all wearing their silver skull masks as they all bowed in front of the dark wizard like he was the leader of a cult.
Voldemort smiled as he looked at his followers. There were only a handful of them as they were all from his inner circle of followers.
"We meet again," he said. "It sure has been a long time but it feels like we only saw each other yesterday…when you were all still loyal to me." He walked up to one of the death eaters and ripped out his mask causing the man to fall on the ground on his knees with a painful groan. "Isn't that right, McNair?"
"My lord, we never lost hope," McNair said.
"And yet you did nothing to hasten my revival," Voldemort said. "None of you came back."
"I did…my lord," Peter said as the dark wizard turned to look at him.
"Out of fear, Wormtail," he said. "You came back out of fear, because you are a coward. There is only one who is responsible for my return, my most loyal follower Barty. It's a pity I cannot see him yet and I probably never will but he has set an example of what real loyalty is. You all should take a page from his book and actually try to be worth something. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here." He then turned to where Cedric, Fleur and Viktor were before walking up to them. "He really laid out a remarkable plan – controlling all three of these to trap the most important person needed for my revival."
He looked at Harry and grinned as he walked up to him. Harry tried to struggle even though he knew he couldn't get out of the statue's grip as Voldemort stopped and looked at him. "Ah, we meet again Harry."
"Go to hell, Tom!" Harry grunted.
Voldemort's smile vanished when he heard that name coming out of Harry's mouth but he regained his composure before grinning again. "Now, now…you shouldn't say anything just because you can, Harry. It seems you are yet to be smart enough to understand when you have been defeated. I am standing in front of you, in my original form and not some parasite or memory. However, most importantly…" he brought forward his hand before putting his finger on Harry's forehead where his scar was, "…I can now touch you!"
Harry felt like his scar would tear apart with how much it was aching but he didn't cry. He didn't want to appear weak in front of Voldemort even though he knew he probably wouldn't be walking out of this situation alive. He kept the stoic look on his face, gritting his teeth behind his closed mouth as his entire body trembled under the tremendous amount of pain.
"You don't understand how happy I am to see you, Harry," Voldemort continued. "However, I wouldn't kill you yet. I don't want to be someone who would attack his most formidable enemy when he is defenseless. No!"
Suddenly the statue let go of him and Harry fell on the ground. He grunted before quickly standing up as Voldemort tossed his wand at him. Harry looked a little confused before quickly picking it up.
"Let us have a duel, like civilized people, shall we?" Voldemort said. "I am giving you an opportunity to fight for yourself. If you manage to disarm me then I will give you a quick, painless death. However, if I disarm you then your screams will fill this place until I am bored of them. Then I will bring your friends here and kill them one-by-one in front of you before ridding you of your pathetic life. Sounds about right? So…"
Harry quickly fired the disarming spell as Voldemort fired his own curse and their spells collided. Thanks to Daphne's lessons in dueling Harry managed to quickly fire a spell before Voldemort's could hit him. However, he could feel Voldemort's spell pushing his own so he put more magic behind his spell to gain some ground.
Voldemort grinned. "Disappointing but not all the way through," he said. "I honestly thought you would be worse than this but apparently you are not. It seems like you have been teaching yourself how to duel, Harry."
Harry didn't respond. He knew that if he did then he would lose focus and that would be a deadly mistake. He could also feel his magical exhaustion catching up to him and he knew he couldn't keep this up when he suddenly noticed weird sparks coming out from where his and Voldemort's spell were colliding. Harry also didn't miss Voldemort's confused look which told him that even the dark wizard didn't know what was happening.
Suddenly a bright colored cloud burst out of their spells' meeting point. Harry and Voldemort saw it take the form of various people and as their facial features became clearer, Harry was shocked to see that it was his parents, Fleur, Cedric and Viktor.
"Mom? Dad?" Harry said unable to believe what he was seeing. Even Voldemort seemed shocked with all of this happening as he wondered what was going on. "What is happening?" Harry said.
"Harry, let go," James said looking at his son. He could see Harry was almost at his limit, trying to keep up with his spell. "Don't worry, we will protect you."
"But it will only be for a moment, Harry," Lily said. "Break the spell, now. You are approaching your limit."
"Harry, take our bodies back with you," Fleur said next as Harry looked at her, Cedric and Viktor who all smiled sadly at him. Tears fell from his eyes as he looked from them to their dead bodies a few meters away from him. He still couldn't believe they were all dead.
"Harry, do it now!" James said.
Harry gulped as he broke the spell and immediately the cloud formed a translucent shield between him and Voldemort. He turned around and ran over to where Fleur, Cedric and Viktor's bodies were.
The shield disappeared and Voldemort saw Harry running away. He grunted in anger while one of the death eaters pointed their wands at Harry. "No!" Voldemort shouted. "He's mine! No one else will come between us!"
Harry fired a smoke charm, obstructing Voldemort's line of sight just as a spell hit the ground beside Harry, causing it to explode. He almost fell, losing his balance before throwing himself on Fleur, Cedric and Viktor's bodies before quickly summoning the Tri Wizard Cup.
Voldemort emerged from the smoke and saw Harry wasn't there, once again slipping away from his hands as he screamed in anger.
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Thanks for reading…